


Ferdinand From the Sea

by MaidenM



Series: Ferdibert week 2020 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, Ferdibert Week 2020 (Fire Emblem), Fluff, M/M, no mermaids despite mermaid prompt, or is there..?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25792078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaidenM/pseuds/MaidenM
Summary: Hubert looked at his beloved’s face, which faced the horizon beyond the sea. There was a softness to his expression, one Hubert was surprised to see he could not recognize from before. The Ferdinand before him was a Ferdinand he hadn’t seen before. It sent a shiver, one that was not entirely unpleasant, down his spine. When Ferdinand finally turned  towards him again, he was his usual self once more.“A long time ago, a very long time, there where people who lived in the sea,” Ferdinand began.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Ferdibert week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876912
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65





	Ferdinand From the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Ferdibert week! I offer you this fic based on the "mermaid" prompt and it has no mermaids in it. Anyhoo, I think about how "Ferdinand von Aegir" means "Ferdinand from the sea" a lot.

There wasn't much Hubert knew of Aegir, the land not the family. At least, not much he could tell that he hadn't read in reports, in documents and history books. His reasons to visit the area were few, far in between and often related to the less savoury side of his vocation. If a tourist asked him about the area he doubted they’d like to know what swamplands were most suited for dumping bodies.

He reasoned he ought to keep that knowledge to himself around Ferdinand as well, though fortunately the redhead seemed too excited about being back home to ask Hubert what he knew or did not know.

"The sea breeze never fails to make me relax," Ferdinand sighed as he opened the patio doors wide to let the salty air in. From the terrace he could see the ocean, a clear blue sky above it and the sun getting ready to descend for the evening. This side of the Aegir manor faced the tall cliffs, and Hubert had lost metaphorical years off his life as Ferdinand just described how he had raced along the edge of those cliffs as a child. The view was said to be unparalleled.

Hubert had to disagree. The sight of Ferdinand in a loose blouse and with both his hair and his shoulders down for the first time in quite a while as he stood against the blue of the sea and sky must be the greater than any vista.

Hubert sat comfortably where he was, satisfied to be indoors and enjoying the whiff of ocean rather than the full impact of it as he admired the other man. If Edelgard was so adamant that he'd enjoy his vacation he'd follow that order the way he wishes, and since Ferdinand searched through his luggage and removed the paperwork he had planned to get done he'd oogle the man to his heart's content instead. Ferdinand certainly made it easy for him, standing there, stretching, twirling and breathing in the ocean air.

Though there was a melancholy in his amber eyes as he did. A look that Hubert had rarely seen in Ferdinand's ever-optimistic face. Sighing, he stood up from his comfortable chair and stepped out on the terrace.

"You say it relaxes you so why do you look so glum, jewel of mine?" Hubert spoke as he stepped behind Ferdinand and wrapped his arms around the man. The question seemed to surprise him, his eyebrows shooting up for a moment, lips parting slightly before his usual smile found its way back home.

"Glum? Me? The sun must have been in your eyes," Ferdinand chuckled as he lay his hands over Hubert's.

"It must have been. I was looking right at you, after all," the taller man joked, holding his beloved closer to him and laying a quick kiss to the shell of his ear. For a while Ferdinand's smile shone brightly, but before long it faded and that unusually mournful look once more sliding into place.

"It... it happens to be a special time of year, that is all," Ferdinand murmured, "I am sorry, dear. I didn't mean to seem so despondent."

Wheels turned in Hubert's head, sorting through all the information he had memorized about the Aegirs and their customs. Time of year, special, an event? A person? No specific holidays he could think of now, late in the summer while the heat still lingered but the wind held a familiar chill. A memory? Could still be about a person. No birthdays, no namedays but...

Ah, that would explain Ferdinand's sorrowful expression.

"You grandmother," he stated after a few moments of thinking. "She died around this time of the year." It was a statement, rather than a question. Ferdinand nodded as he looked out at the sea.

"About ten years ago, yes. I find myself thinking of her everytime I look towards the ocean."

There was a faraway look in Ferdinand's eyes now, a sense of sentimentality Hubert had often wondered if he himself was simply incapable of with how often he would turn to the pragmatic and logical. No point in wallowing in the past, he thought, not when the future is so much more important.

Still, despite himself he found that at this moment he wished he had known the woman who made his beloved make such a face. What kind of person was she, to give Ferdinand a look of naked, unashamed affection at her mere memory?

"Tell me about her," he heard himself whisper.

Ferdinand smiled, a faded but shining sunset in his eyes. “Would you mind if I showed you instead?”

***

The sky had turned a gentle, pinkish hue as the reached the shore. Ferdinand’s hand was warm in his, their feet bare against the sand as they had removed their shoes on Ferdinand's insistence.

“My family have always had singers. Even my father loved to sing, though it was not something he indulged in often even when I was a child,” Ferdinand began, his shoulder brushing up against Hubert’s as they walked. “My grandmother was well known for her beautiful voice in her youth.”

Hubert sorted through what he knew of the late Adelaide von Aegir. She was well loved at court, but he had to admit he had dismissed her simply because there wasn’t much to suggest she was anything but a socialite. He held that thought to himself as Ferdinand spoke.

“She and I had… a special connection,” the redhead spoke softly. “I loved her dearly, and she loved me. It was an open secret that I was her favourite. We would spend so much of our time together when I was a child.” They stopped for a moment, as Ferdinand looked out at the sea. “That was when she told me stories. Stories of Fódlan I had never heard elsewhere. Stories of my family.”

“What manner of stories?” Hubert asked, his interest roused despite himself. They was Ferdinand said it almost made it seem like they were not…

“Children’s tales, I’m sure,” Ferdinand replied with a slight smile.

They began to walk again, slow steps sinking into the sand. Ferdinand’s eyes were fixed upon the ocean, steady waves rolling in and creeping back after lapping at their feet.

“She told me how we, and the land we govern, got our name,” Ferdinand said after a while. “A story from very long ago. She told me to be proud of it, and to remember from where we came.”

Hubert huffed, tough took care not to turn it into a scoff. “That is sweet, but I’ve never understood what pride there is to take in the land you were born into,” he said.

“Not Aegir the land,” Ferdinand corrected him. “The sea.”

Hubert looked at his beloved’s face, which faced the horizon beyond the sea. There was a softness to his expression, one Hubert was surprised to see he could not recognize from before. The Ferdinand before him was a Ferdinand he hadn’t seen before. It sent a shiver, one that was not entirely unpleasant, down his spine. When Ferdinand finally turned towards him again, he was his usual self once more.

“A long time ago, a very long time, there where people who lived in the sea,” Ferdinand began.

“Sailors?”

“No, they were… people of the sea. Merfolk. Sirens. Half human, half sea-creatures.”

Hubert hummed in understanding. He had heard many tales of half-human creatures. If he was honest they unsettled him, too close to the skinwalkers who changed shape and the dragons walking around in human form. The look in Ferdinand’s eyes told him the redhead might have a very different view.

“One day, somewhere along Fódland’s northern coast, one such creature found himself beached like a whale,” Ferdinand continued. “He was wounded and weak, and even if he had the strength to return to the waters he might not have survived for long. Desperately, he sang out a sorrowful dirge for his fate, hoping that his people would hear him and mourn rather than hope for his return. 

“The one who heard him however, was a simple fisherman. Taking pity on the half-man the fisherman offered to help him, to take him to the village where he could be healed. It was too far to make the trip there to look for a healer and return, but if he brought the man there he might survive. But the man was too heavy with his long tail, and the fisherman found himself at a loss. Desperately, the fisherman prayed to the Goddess for help.”

Again, Hubert had to hold back a scoff. He should have expected such a turn to the story. He must have failed slightly because Ferdinand rolled his eyes and pinched his arm before he continued.

“Though the Goddess could not help them herself, she heard his prayer and sent Saint Cichol in her stead. Cichol gave the half-man his blessing, granting him legs so that he could walk to the village himself.”

“Quite the gift,” Hubert muttered, “why not just heal his wounds if the blessing could cause such a change in physiology?”

“Oh hush, you! Do not ruin my grandmother’s story for me,” Ferdinand laughed. They walked on in silence for a while, the orange glow of the sunset turning pink as the sun dipped into the sea. “The man’s life was saved, but at a great cost. He could no longer return to the sea,” Ferdinand picked up once more.

“That must have been… difficult,” Hubert tried.

“I imagine so. The thought of never being able to return to Adrestia… I would very much dislike that.” The redhead’s voice was soft as he spoke and Hubert felt a slight twitch in his heart as he remembered how as the war had begun he had challenged Ferdinand's loyalty in ways he was no longer proud of. If he had pressed harder, would Ferdinand be somewhere else now?

“The merman turned human thanked Cichol and the fisherman for his life, but could not stay in the village as he did not feel at home there. For years he traveled Fódlan, north, east, west and south, but he always felt himself pulled to the coast, singing his dirge once more to the open sea.

“But then one day, as he sang his sorrow to the ocean, he heard a song in return. It was his people who had heard him, listened to his plight, and vowed that they would honor him and never forget their lost brother. Their song raised his spirit, and his sorrowful tune turned into a hopeful aria.”

Ferdinand stopped in his tracks and looked over to the face of the cliff, causing Hubert to do the same. There, in a small hollow, sat a small shrine surrounded by seashells.

“We’re here,” Ferdinand whispered, his voice almost carried away by the wind. “This is my grandmother’s shrine.” Grasping his hand, Ferdinand pulled Hubert towards it.

“Hello, grandma,” Ferdinand said as they stood before the small, decorated stone. “Forgive me for not visiting sooner. This is Hubert, I am sure you remember how I spoken of him many times.”

Hubert squirmed slightly where he stood. Spirituality and reverence for the dead was not his forte, but for Ferdinand he would do his best to be respectful. “Nice to… Nice to meet you,” he said. It was worth the discomfort for Ferdinand's radiant smile in return. “Is she buried here?” he asked hesitantly.

“No, her ashes are stored in the Aegir mausoleum,” Ferdinand explained with a shake to his head. “But… not all of it. Some were spread here, in the ocean, at her request.”

“Really?” Hubert asked, he had expected an Aegir to stick to the customs. “Why is that?”

Ferdinand smiled and sat down in the sand, facing the sea. He motioned for Hubert to do the same. The sun had fully set now, it’s gentle glow not quite gone but dwindling across the horizon.

“Let me finish her story first,” Ferdinand asked as they got comfortable, the redhead leaning on Hubert’s shoulder. “As he sang to his lost family, the man realized that though he had lost his former life it did not change who he was in his heart. He could make a new start. So he built a house for himself, on the cliffs overlooking his former home. He named the land after the sea itself, to remind himself of what he had lost as well as what he had gained.”

_Ah,_ Hubert thought. “Aegir.”

“Exactly.”

They sat quietly for a while longer, Hubert letting the story roll around in his head to the sound of the waves.

“He continued to sing to his former kin from the coast for the rest of his life. Eventually he had a family and children, who learned his song and continued the tradition after his death. They taught their children the song, and they in turn taught theirs.” Ferdinand sighed, a melancholy sigh that came from deep within his lungs. “And grandma taught me,” he finished.

Despite himself, Hubert smiled. “I have to admit, I would have liked to meet her.”

“I would have liked that too,” Ferdinand chuckled.

“How does the song go?” Hubert asked, pulling Ferdinand slightly closer to himself as the air grew chilly.

“I must admit I do not know the words very well, it is a very old song.”

“I don’t mind.”

Lacing his fingers with Hubert’s, Ferdinand smiled and cleared his throat. A gentle melody left his lips as he closed his eyes, going somewhere within himself the Hubert had never been privy to before. With the waves acting as his metronome, his voice rang clear across the water.

And if you had asked, Hubert might even have admitted that he could hear a faint reply from the ocean as the moon rose above them.


End file.
